Bang the Doldrums (being rewritten on another story)
by andiessmintss
Summary: Sometimes meeting the right person can put you on a completely different path.
1. Chapter 1

-Edited 4/10/2020-

-o0o-

Worried green eyes met ruby red. The blond boy, Bakugou Katsuki, had fallen from the tree log that they and their friends were crossing, and only Izuku ran down to help him. Kacchan bared his teeth and furrowed his brows in anger, smacking away Izuku's waiting hand. Izuku fell back into the river at his feet, hitting the smooth rocks beneath him.

"I don't need your help, Deku!" The blonde yelled as he scrambled to his feet. Kacchan quickly ran back up the small hill to his waiting friends and left Izuku to sit in the river. Tears gathered in Izuku's eyes as a frown quickly made its way onto his young face. Worry lines formed between his brows as he sniffled. He slowly sat up and hobbled over to the riverbank.

Izuku sat down on the sandy ground as sobs began wracking his small body. The only sounds around were the birds singing, the water cascading over rocks, and the gasps and wails of a little boy. While all that Kacchan said was, 'I don't need your help, Deku!' and therefore didn't seem like something to cry over, Izuku was an emotional boy. On top of that, it wasn't the words Kacchan screamed or the abandonment.

It was the look in his eyes. Kacchan's fiery eyes were filled with so much anger and something else he couldn't identify but knew wasn't good. 'All that I had done was try and help him! No one else bothered to help, they thought he was strong enough- oh.' It hit Izuku like a flash. Kacchan was upset because he was strong enough to not be hurt. He left because he genuinely didn't need Izuku's help. The boy's tears had stopped, and he wiped his face, grinning. 'That's it! I'll just go back and say sorry, then everything will be okay again! It's my fault anyway, and Kacchan will get it!'

Izuku heard a rustle from the forest behind him, causing him to jump up. The boy's head whipped around to watch the forest as he held his breath, his smile quickly falling. Kacchan and his friends might have come back early after having their fun. Oddly enough, despite believing everything would be okay if he apologized, Izuku didn't want that to happen.

Another rustle met Izuku's ears, closer this time. It felt as though the entire world held its breath in anticipation.

Another rustle.

And another.

A figure came tumbling out of the forest and sprawled out on the grass beneath it. The figure shakily sat up and its breathing quickened. Upon further examination, it was a young boy, just older than Izuku was. His baggy clothes were covered in soot, to the point where Izuku couldn't tell what the color was. His face was also in a similar state, tear marks drawing clean lines through his face. The boy's hair looked to be black, but much like his clothing, you wouldn't be able to tell. For all Izuku knew, his hair could be pastel pink.

The boy looked up at Izuku and flinched like a scared animal. Now that he was facing Izuku, he could see the boy's frightened blood-red eyes.

"Who- who are you?" A soft, almost imperceptible voice drifted over to Izuku's ears. The boy was quickly examining his surroundings, his eyes darting this way and that.

Izuku slowly stood up and brushed off his cargo shorts. He didn't want to frighten the boy, he wanted to comfort him. Izuku took one small step towards the boy and then took another. After the third, he was halfway towards the boy, and he backed up slightly. Izuku would talk from here, that was fine by him.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku. You can call me Izuku if you want," He whispered and slowly sat down on the grass. The boy hesitantly nodded, and Izuku smiled.

"What's your name?" Izuku held out his hand towards the boy as he asked the question, waiting for him to potentially take it. Izuku watched as the boy's mouth opened in closed in an attempt to speak. His eyes darted from Izuku's outstretched hand, up to his face, and back again.

"I'm Shimura Tenko." Tenko never took his hand, but that was fine by him. Izuku scooted slightly closer.

"Why were you running? And why do you look so messed up?" Looking closer, he saw that Tenko was covered in both small and large cuts, his shirt was ripped, and his hands looked scrubbed raw. Blisters were covering his palms and his knees were scraped horribly. Tears started to gather in Tenko's eyes, and Izuku immediately knew that he did something wrong.

"He-hey, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? How about I take you to my mommy, she always makes me feel better when I cry!" New tear tracks joined the old on both of their faces. Tenko shook his head and scratched his neck.

"I-it's okay. Something, something just happened." Tenko murmured and moved slightly closer to Izuku. It made his heart flutter in pride at the progress he was making with the boy. Tenko still looked closed off and had his chin resting on his knees. Izuku took this as a sign that he didn't want to talk and simply watched him

He took note of Tenko's chapped lips and scars marring his face. He saw that Tenko kept his pinky over his ring finger and traced little patterns on his sleeve.

The moment Izuku heard loud laughter and faint explosions, it felt like a glacier had sailed down his spine. His eyes wide and fearful, he met Tenko's confused and scared gaze. Izuku felt paralyzed as the peaceful spell over the pair had broken.

'No, I can't have them finding him! They could hurt him, or maybe tell him that I'm quirkless! No no no, I can't lose him, I met him like ten minutes ago!'

"W-we need to hide! Quick!" Tenko's eyes widened to be almost comically large, and he darted up. Izuku did the same and grabbed hold of Tenko's wrist, making sure not to hold on too tight. They darted under the makeshift bridge and waited for the group to cross with bated breath. After the loud pitter-patter of feet and chatter was no longer heard, the pair slowly crept out from under the log.

"Sorry about that, I just... I couldn't let them see me or you. You know?" Tenko timidly nodded and hummed, a battered hand coming up to his neck and scratching lightly. Izuku noticed, but he didn't pay much mind to it. As far as he could tell, he wasn't in the right to stop him.

"We should go to my mom. You're all cut up, and it's getting late. C'mon!" Izuku took hold of Tenko's wrist again, and they ran up the hill and over the log.

-o0o-

The pair made it routine to meet up under the log every other day. If Izuku couldn't make it, he made sure to tell Tenko, now called Koko, at least two days before so he wouldn't worry. As a four-year-old and six-year-old, it wasn't like they had many unexpected things to attend. Over time they learned more things about each other. From simple things like Izuku's favorite food being katsudon, to how Koko liked warm weather. Izuku, being a naive four-year-old, had never noticed how Koko always wore the same clothes and slowly became dirtier. After a couple of weeks, Izuku had steadily become quieter, though Koko couldn't figure out why.

The boys were sitting on the rocky bank of the river, Izuku resting his head in the other boy's lap. Koko was running his gloved hands through Izuku's fluffy hair. It felt like running his hands through a cloud.

"Zuzu, what's wrong? You've been really quiet lately," The small almost-brunette asked. His roots were white now, no longer the ebony they once were. Despite Izuku's persistent questioning about both his gloves and hair Koko always refused to answer. He was frustrated, but never voiced it.

"Hm? Nothing," Izuku murmured as he fidgeted with his hands. Koko stilled his hands from carding through the boy's hair.

"You're lying." Izuku bit his lip and brought his knees to his chest. He watched as the sparse grass he had disturbed slowly shifted back into place.

"I-I-" Izuku felt tears gather into his eyes and wiped at them furiously.

'Kacchan said that heroes don't cry! Stop it, you idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!'

"I'm... quirkless." Izuku tensed in preparation for the coming blow, whether it be verbal or physical. He felt his heart rate speed up and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. When nothing happened, he opened his eyes and met Koko's questioning gaze.

"That was what you were so sad about?" Tenko resumed carding his hands through Izuku's hair as he shrugged, "That doesn't make much sense." Izuku was shocked at Koko's response. What did he mean by 'That was what you were so sad about?' He was quirkless! All the other kids either sneered and made fun of him or ran away, worried that they would 'catch it'. Why was Koko any different?

'Koko's a really great friend, but Kacchan is too, isn't he? If Kacchan is supposed to be the world's next best hero, then why is Koko any different?'

"H-huh?"

"You heard me. Being sad over being quirkless doesn't make sense. I'd rather be quirkless than have my quirk." Izuku felt Koko tense from underneath him as his fingers stilled once again. Izuku removed the boy's hands from his hair and sat up to look directly at him.

"What do you mean by that?" Koko breathed out a shaky sigh as tears welled up in his eyes.

'We're just a bunch of crybabies, aren't we?'

"I, uh, my quirk. Is bad. It- it makes things go away." Izuku cocked his head and squinted in confusion. He took hold of one of Koko's hands and traced circles with his thumb on his knuckles.

"I don't get it. If it makes things go away, that's amazing! You could do so many things with that!" Izuku wasn't stupid, at least not for a four-year-old. He'd noticed that Koko never touched things with all five fingers before Inko bought him a pair of artist gloves.

-Artist gloves are made so that artists don't get pencil smudges on their hands, so it covers only your pinky and ring finger.-

"I-" Koko let out a world-weary sigh once again. "I'll just... show you, instead." He removed his hand from Izuku's grasp and took off the glove. He picked up a rock with three fingers and looked at Izuku. He watched Izuku's reaction as he placed all five fingers on the rock, and it withered away.

"Woah! That's really cool!" Tears gathered in Koko's eyes and slip down his cheeks once again. Izuku gathered the ashes in his hands and let them slip through back to the grass and rocks below. It really was a cool quirk, there were a lot of uses for it.

"Really? I- I could hurt you!" Koko didn't know what to think. Izuku's gaze softened, and he grabbed Koko's uncovered hand. Koko tried to rip his hand out of Izuku grasp to no avail. He didn't like making him do that, but he needed Koko to understand his quirk was okay.

"Stop! I don't wanna hurt you!" Izuku gripped his hand harder and smiled. Koko tried again to make him let go, but it wouldn't work.

"You won't."

"But-"

"You. Won't." Izuku brought his hand to his cheek and hummed a low tune. Koko's hands were rough now that they were healed, but Izuku didn't mind.

"See? You didn't hurt me," Izuku murmured. Koko pulled the boy into a bone-crushing hug as he sobbed into his shoulder. Izuku wrapped his arms around Koko's waist and hummed a soothing tune as his mother taught him.

"Thank you," Koko choked out. Izuku rubbed his hand soothingly in circles on his back.

"For what?"

"For liking me." Izuku's grin grew wider and he tightened his grip on Koko. He felt a few tears slip down his cheeks.

"I always will, Koko. Always and forever."

-o0o-

Tenko waited by the frozen-over stream for Zuzu to arrive. It was well into winter, and the boys had known each other for almost seven months. It was not much long after the pair were supposed to meet, and Tenko grew more worried by the minute.

"Where is he? We always meet when the sun is all high up, but he still isn't here," Tenko grumbled. He brought a hand up to scratch at his neck, but his thick gloves and heavy jacket blocked it. Inko had noticed that he wasn't getting any new clothes and took it upon herself to buy some.

After waiting for another thirty minutes, or at least what Tenko assumed was thirty minutes, he decided to go straight to the park. Something might have happened, and Tenko wasn't about to leave his best friend hanging.

As Tenko came closer to the park, he heard shouting. He broke out in a sprint and came upon Zuzu protecting a brown-haired boy from a blond boy and what looked to be his friends. Tenko watched, frozen, as he shifted into a pitiful fighter stance. The boy had tears beading in his determined eyes as he glared at the blond. The moment that he took a step towards Zuzu, Tenko shot into action.

"Zuzu-" Tenko was cut off by a scream erupting from his throat as an explosion barreled into him. He tumbled into the woodchips and rolled for about a meter before stopping.

Tenko looked up to see Zuzu looking at him in sheer horror. His eyes were wide, pupils like pinpricks in a sea of green, and his body began to tremble. Tenko shakily stood up and felt a burst of cold and heat at the same time hit his arm. The blond's explosion had torn a hole into his sleeve.

"Koko!" Zuzu rushed over to the boy and inspected his forearm, "This looks super bad, we need to go to mom." Tenko felt tears prick his eyes from the pain and bit his lip.

A winged figure slammed into Izuku, causing his hand to be wrenched from Tenko's arm with a scream. He cried out in pain, clutching his burnt arm, before rushing towards the winged boy. He ripped the boy's arm off Zuzu's and the boy screeched.

Tenko looked down at the boy's arm and fell backward in a sudden bout of nausea. There was an ugly patch of muscle where the boy's skin used to be.

Father crumbled under his touch.

Another friend of the blond boy's backed away in fear.

His sister, screaming, set flame to the apartment.

"He's, he's a villain!" The winged boy screamed, clutching his decayed bicep.

Mother tried to shield him from the flames but only withered away in the blistering heat.

Zuzu ran towards him and enveloped him in a hug.

He ran from the burning apartment complex, the only sounds around being sirens, the roar and crackle of the mounting flame, and his footsteps.

"Koko, it's okay! I am here!"

Izuku crumbled under his touch, just like father.

The last thing he saw was worried eyes staring into his own.

-o0o-

Bleary blood-red eyes opened to see a room lined with All Might merchandise. All Might posters lined the walls, and there were action figures on every shelf. Tenko looked down to see Zuzu, the boy's hair tickling his chin. This was obviously Zuzu's room. The boy talked about All Might way too much for it to be anything but.

'Why am I in his room?'

All of the events from what he assumed was mere hours ago came flooding into Tenko head, causing him to shiver in fear. He didn't want to think about it, but as always, that only made him think about it more. He clutched the pillow beneath his head as he began to silently sob, thinking about what he had done to the winged boy.

"Koko...?" Tenko looked down to see Zuzu rubbing his eyes. He frantically wiped at his own to get rid of the tears, but he couldn't fool Zuzu, or anyone really. Tenko's eyes were red and puffy, his face unusually flushed. He sat up, inadvertently pulling Zuzu up with him.

"Hey, hey, don't cry! It's okay," Zuzu exclaimed, wiping his thumbs under Tenko's eyes. He scooted backward on the bed, almost falling off the edge before Zuzu caught him and pulled him back up. Every time that Zuzu tried to touch him, Tenko flinched away in fear of himself.

'I can't hurt him! I can't!'

"What's wrong?" To Izuku, it was like they were back to square one. Like Koko was back in the forest and flinching away from contact. He didn't want to go back to that, but he didn't know what to do.

Something had happened to Koko when he accidentally harmed Kacchan's friend. He folded in on himself like paper and started crying. Izuku had never seen him so scared before, not even when he first met him. Mom called it a 'panic attack' when he told her what he looked like. She explained that when he reacts like that to treat him with care, not to touch him too much, but make sure that the boy knew that he was there.

However, this didn't look like then. Yes, Koko was curled up like a ball, but he wasn't crying, hyperventilating, or anything of the sort. Koko was glancing around, but only to Izuku, to his hands, and back to Izuku. Maybe another kind? He didn't know enough about it.

Izuku looked up when he heard his door open. Mom walked in, and her facial features softened when she looked to Koko. She walked over and sat on the bed next to him.

"Hey, do you want to talk about it?" Koko shook his head, and Mom sighed. She pulled Izuku into her lap and smiled tiredly at the boy.

"Alright. I won't push, but talk to me when you need to, okay?" Koko didn't respond and stayed as he was. Mom appeared to contemplate something and set Izuku back down and left the room, coming back a minute later with a plush in hand. It was a black cat with blue buttons for eyes. It appeared well worn and was fraying in certain places. Mom knelt in front of Tenko and placed the plush on the bed.

"Here. This is Spook, my old plushie. He always took care of me when I was sad, so I'm gonna give him to you. Take care of him." Inko brought Izuku into the kitchen, much to his protests that he needed to take care of Koko.

Eventually, Tenko brought the plush into his hands. He analyzed every frayed stitch and crooked seam. He brought it to his chest and laid down, smiling. A faint mutter could be heard as he drifted into a deep slumber.

"Goodnight, Spook."

-o0o-

Well, I edited the chapter! I hope it looks better. I changed some things about it for better characterization as well.


	2. Chapter 2

After that day, Tenko refused to let go of Spooks for nearly a week. He stayed in the guest room and only came out for showers, food, and occasional television. He made special care not to touch Izuku or Inko, even with his new gloves on.

Izuku is concerned for his best and only friend. Tenko had been closed off since harming the winged boy. The verdanette paced around his room, muttering under his breath.

"Why is he so upset? It was an accident! Yesterday I cut my foot because I tried to get a towel and a knife fell, but I'm not upset! I mean, yeah, it hurt, and it made me upset for a moment, but that doesn't count." Izuku plopped down onto his All-Might themed bed with a grunt. Frustration and concern for his friend bubbled up in him, causing him to let out a loud groan.

"What am I doing wrong?" Izuku murmured, laying an arm over his eyes. He perked up slightly when he heard a knock at his door. He felt hope swell in his heart as he padded over to the door. He opened it, and his mother was standing with Tenko next to her.

"Go on now." Inko lightly pushed the boy between his shoulder blades so that he would walk into Izuku's room. Tenko clutched Spook tightly in his right hand as he trembled. Izuku didn't like that his friend had tears beading in his eyes and worry lines between his creased brows. He wished to smooth them out and tell him that it was alright.

"Mom? What's going on?" Izuku asked, glancing between his frightened friend and patient mother. Inko knelt and ran her hands through both boy's hair. Tenko had to restrain himself from flinching away from her motherly touch.

"Well, he has been closed off lately, as I'm sure you know," Inko glanced towards Tenko and gave him a soft smile. "Therefore, he is going to spend some time with you. It's not healthy to be closed off as you are, Tenko." Tenko nodded, and his grip on Spook tightened. Inko straightened up and left them, closing the door with a goodbye and good luck.

Izuku held out his hand to Tenko, waiting for the boy to take it. The almost-brunette's eyes flashed with fear, but also with longing. He missed sitting with Izuku by the creek and running his hands through the boy's hair. He missed doing simple yet fun things with him.

"You're not going to hurt me, Koko," Izuku murmured, and as he was about to drop his hand, Tenko reached out and grabbed it. Izuku grinned a mega-watt smile and led him over to a small red bucket of toys he owned.

Izuku sat down in front of the bucket and pulled it out, struggling slightly but prevailing in the end. Tenko settled down beside him, still stiff, but all-around feeling better than he'd been for a while. Izuku knocked the bucket onto its side with a frustrated look.

"Stupid bucket," The verdanette murmured, crossing his arms as he huffed. Tenko giggled lightly, the sound similar to a cheese-grater on asphalt. It wasn't a pleasant sound, that much is true. However, to Izuku, it was stunning. It isn't like his mother's, soft like velvet. It isn't like Katsuki's, loud but smooth. It was unique, and Tenko in every way.

The toys spilled out of the red bucket and onto the carpet below. There were All Mights, Thirteens, Talons, Haikus, and more. The bucket mainly consisted of pro hero merchandise, but unlike many seem to think, Izuku had more interests than pro heroes. A couple of Barbies were in the bucket, ones with different outfits and appearances.

Izuku grabbed a Barbie with a ballerina's outfit, the light pink of her clothes both contrasting and complementing the dark browns of her skin. Her hair was in a small pom at the top of her head with pink lace tying it together.

"This one's my favorite! She's a ballerina, and I wanna be like her someday! I'll be a hero and a ballerina!" Izuku proudly presented the doll, holding her like a national treasure. Tenko nearly reached out to hold her but took his hand away at the last second.

_'I don't want to make her disappear. She's his favorite doll, I can't just do that.'_

"Koko?" Izuku peered curiously at the boy. His features softened in understanding, and he pressed the doll into Tenko's hand. His head snapped up in shock, and he opened his mouth to protest. Tenko dropped it on the floor, curling his hands to his chest.

"C'mon, let's play together!" Izuku had retrieved an All Might figurine from the pile before Tenko could even blink. Izuku began to explain the background of the game. The ballerina was All Might's sidekick, and they were on their way to defeat a villain.

Tenko smiled as he picked up the ballerina.

-o0o-

The house had the smell of taiyaki wafting through the air. Izuku and Tenko were helping Inko prepare the delicious dessert. According to Inko, a guest was about to arrive, but for what, the pair didn't know.

Inko set the plate of fish-shaped treats on the coffee table and smiled. She put her hands on her hips, Izuku and Tenko quickly mimicking her with a glance. Inko knelt and ruffled their hair, pulling them into a hug.

"You silly geese!" She giggled, the pair laughing with her. The doorbell rang, and the trio looked over to the door. Inko set them down and stood up, walking towards the door with a skip in her step.

"Hey, June! Nice of you to make it, come on in!" Inko stepped aside to let her in, the two sharing short pleasantries on the way to the living room. Inko left to the kitchen to fetch some tea. Upon seeing the two boys sitting on the couch, a half-smile grew on her face and she crouched down in front of them.

"Hey, I'm June Gallagher. Well, here I'd be Gallagher June, I suppose. I'm a friend of Inko's," June said in a stilted American accent, her purple eyes glinting and changing to blue in the next moment. A purple streak in her chocolate brown hair followed suit in less than a second. Izuku and Tenko's eyes widened in shock and awe at the display of her quirk.

"Is that your quirk? It looks so cool! How does it change colors? Why does it change colors? Do you do that by choice? Can you-" Izuku was cut off by June lightly pressing her hand over his mouth. She laughed and shook her head as she stood up.

"One at a time, kiddo. Yeah, this is my quirk. If I touch something, I can make it change color based on my emotions. I don't get much of a choice with my eyes and hair, though." Izuku bounced off the couch excitedly as she sat down next to Tenko, the boy off to get his notebook. June looked down at Tenko, the almost-brunette nervously shifting in his seat.

"You okay? You don't need to be nervous around me, you know. I don't bite." Tenko looked up at her through a curtain of white hair, clutching Spook as he glanced away. June sighed and leaned back, interlocking her fingers behind her head.

"You're not so good with people, are you?" June asked, documenting the boy's body language. Tenko tensed and looked away, crossing his arms over his chest. June unclasped her hands and set one on Tenko's head, turning him to face her.

"Hey, look at me." Tenko slowly looked up, meeting June's now grey eyes. She shifted her hand down to the boy's chin, ensuring that he stays facing her.

"It's okay if you're not. Doesn't matter what people say, it's fine. Got me?" June asked, her eyes shining with unbridled determination tinged with some sadness. Quite literally, as her eyes were glowing with a green-grey light.

Izuku scurried back into the room, clutching a sketchpad labeled 'Hero Analysis For The Future #1'. June let Tenko be and switched to happily explaining her quirk. Tenko simply sat, mulling over what June said. He missed Inko walk into the room with four cups of tea, and missed Izuku sitting down next to him.

Her words and expression went round and round in the boy's head as he thought. _'Why did she look sad? Was it something I did? No, that doesn't make sense.'_ Tenko felt frustration mounting in his gut, his right hand rising to his neck to scratch at it. _'What did she even mean? I don't get it!' _He vaguely registered someone speaking as well as some movement, but he was too caught up in his head to pay it any heed.

"Hey, hey, earth to Koko!" Izuku waved his arm in front of Tenko's face, not understanding why the boy wouldn't respond. He pouted and sat back on the couch, turning towards his mother.

"Mommy, I think Koko's broken," Izuku whined, crossing his arms over his chest. Inko and June laughed, Inko's sounding like a soft melody contrary to June's booming voice. "It's not funny! I think he's broken!"

"Sweetheart, he's fine," Inko giggled, calming down from Izuku's statement. "Think of it like this. Do you know how you'll mumble a lot when you think hard? I believe that's what he's doing, just not speaking," Inko explained calmly. Izuku nodded his head and looked back to Tenko. The almost-brunette had begun scratching his neck more furiously, so Izuku reached across him to catch his arm. Tenko broke out of his mind and looked to Izuku with mild alarm.

"You shouldn't do that. You'll hurt yourself." Izuku met Tenko's eyes, grinning when Tenko pouted and looked away. Izuku let his arm give out beneath him and fell on Tenko's lap, causing the boy to jolt. He laughed joyfully, which caused Tenko to let out a light snort at his antics.

"I'm afraid that it's time for me to go. It was nice to meet you two," June said, checking her phone and standing up. Inko stood up to accompany her to the door.

"Aww. Buh-bye, Gallagher-san!" Izuku waved at her as she was about to round the corner. June snorted and tossed a half-hearted glare over her shoulder.

"Call me June, none of that formality stuff. Bye Kiddo."

-o0o-

It had been nearly a month after Tenko first began to live with the Midoriya family. He had become more comfortable with contact and would occasionally initiate it. He wasn't as happy as he had been previously, but they were getting there. Inko and Izuku were proud.

June had come over a couple more times, getting to know Izuku and Tenko. She seemed to take a specific liking to Tenko, though the boys didn't know why. According to Inko, June would be coming over again to explain something. It was supposed to be serious, and the boys were not to mess around during it.

June entered the apartment, kicking off her shoes and looking around. She was both excited and sad at the same time for what she had to do. Her eyes were a muddy purple-green as she greeted the boys and sat on the couch. There were no sweets or formalities this time.

"Hi, June-san! Mommy told us that you needed to talk to us about something important," Izuku said as he sat on the couch with a soft 'pomf'. Tenko followed suit, sitting to the left of the verdanette. June sighed out of her nose. Inko sat down to her right and faced the boys with a blank expression.

"Yeah. We needed to talk to you two. It's about you, Tenko." The aforementioned boy tilted his head, curiosity painting his scarred features. Izuku's brows creased, not liking where this could go.

"Do you two know what the Foster-to-Adopt program is?" Inko asked. The boys shook their heads almost imperceptibly. Izuku started to fidget with the end of his shirt as his gaze darted between his mother, June, and Tenko.

"The Foster-to-Adopt program is where kids like you are given to someone that wants them, but can't get through everything needed to keep them permanently." Izuku didn't know what permanently meant, but he could guess. June glanced between Inko and Tenko, taking in her saddened expression and Tenko's confused one.

"I'm one of the adults that want to do that. Inko doesn't have the money to take care of you both for a long time, so I'm going to be taking care of you, Tenko. You'll be living with me around a ten-minute walk away." June hated having to watch as realization dawned on the pair and they crumpled like paper. Tears quickly cascaded down Izuku's cheeks, always being the most emotional.

"Koko- Koko won't be with us anymore?" Izuku sobbed as he clutched onto Tenko's arm. "But I don't- I don't want him to go!" Tenko started to silently cry as he clutched onto Izuku with equal fervor. June heard muffled crying from behind her and knew that Inko had begun to cry as well. The mother walked over to the pair and pulled them into a hug.

"I'm sorry. You'll still be able to be around each other, it's not that bad. Besides, you two have a week to prepare and spend as much time together as you'd like." June didn't know what to do while they cried. Every sentence she had prepared to comfort them escaped her brain the moment they began to wail.

After the crying fest was over, Tenko hesitantly separated himself from Izuku. He didn't want to leave, but he understood. He knew that Inko hadn't gone to work, probably because of him. She couldn't take care of him with the money left by her ex-husband.

"I get it. It's okay," Tenko murmured, meeting June's eyes. She looked relieved, but her eyes were dark green like Izuku's. She was sad and didn't want to separate them. Izuku grinned a wobbly smile and backed up to look Tenko in the eye.

"I'll make sure to make you as happy as I can! We'll go get ice cream and play games! Then, when you come over, I'll have so much to show you! We can.."

As Izuku rambled about the things they would do together, the mood lightened. Everyone felt that this new leaf in life wouldn't be as bad as they had thought.

-o0o-

**Hello everyone! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I had to rush on it since Friday came a lot faster than I had originally anticipated. I hope you look forward to the next chapter. Remember, comments are appreciated, but not required.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Join the discord server for this story! You can talk about the fic, recommend fics, just have a generally fun time talking to people with the same interests! You can also yell at me for not updating ;0. Link here(put it into google since ff won't let me put it in, just withough the space between words): **** discord . gg / s3rS7b**** (sorry bout not having the proper link the first time ;v;)**

**Also, sorry for not updating for a month. Between family issues and the holidays, it was pretty difficult to find time to write. I also had a nasty case of writer's block, so :/.**

-o0o-

Golden rays of sunlight filtered through the All Might-themed curtains, waking a certain emotionally-drained boy. Tenko was curled around Izuku, the verdanette clinging tightly to his bedclothes in his slumber.

Bleary, dull eyes opened to only see the deep green of Izuku's hair. He lightly detached the verdanette's hands from his shirt and sat up. Everything felt blurry, for lack of a better word. There was a thin veil separating Tenko from his emotions and surroundings. Almost detached. It would be frightening if he knew it was happening.

Tenko slid the covers off and slipped to the wooden floor underfoot. Bare feet padded into the kitchen, the sound of humming and sizzling bacon filling the air.

"Oh, Tenko! Good morning! I'm making bacon and eggs, scrambled, your favorite," Inko cheerily exclaimed and continued her humming while turning around. Her smile rang fake to Tenko, but it was ignored in favor of sitting at the circular kitchen table.

Izuku came into the kitchen, holding Tenko's plush. He grinned upon spotting Tenko and scuttled up to his chair.

"You forgot Spook! Here ya go!" Izuku placed the stuffy into the pale-haired boy's lap. Tenko continued blankly staring at Izuku, even as he scrambled into the chair next to his.

"Hey, you okay? You seem kinda weird." Tenko let out a non-committal grunt just as Inko came and set down the eggs and bacon. They promptly dug into the meal, savoring every bit. Except for Tenko.

-o0o-

"You ready?" Inko asks, letting Tenko hold her hand in as strong of a grip he can muster at that age. He holds Spook in his other hand, Izuku holding onto his arm.

The car ride to June's home is silent. All that Tenko can think of is, well, nothing. His mind is blank and the fog he woke up in is only worse. He feels sad but also doesn't at the same time. It was a strange feeling.

The car door opens and the pair of boys are led to June's home. The gravel path to the door crunches underfoot, June speaks, Inko speaks, Izuku speaks, but Tenko can't hear anything. His ears ring like high pitched static, everything felt wrong. His center of balance feels off, he can't acknowledge his surroundings. All he knows is that he's moving and that it doesn't feel quite right. He goes up, he goes to the side, but he can't see.

The warm thing he was holding was gone, and he wanted it back. Everything became too bright, too loud, too much. The green boy was crying, he was crying, and he needed his friend. Clutching tightly and not letting go was what Tenko wanted.

He was going away, and he didn't want to. Stress and sadness and anger and sorrow and longing longing longing left Tenko's body wracking with intense sobs. He could feel Izuku's back shaking with hiccups, feel the fabric that the bluenette's face was buried in. He could feel everything again, almost too much. June and Inko talking in hushed whispers were too loud, Izuku and his crying were too loud, everything was wrong in a way it wasn't before.

Slowly, or quickly, Tenko didn't know, their tears subsided sometime after they sank to the floor. Tenko briefly registered being set on something soft and warm before passing out.

-o0o-

"I hate these stupid petals," Tenko pouted, flicking a light pink sakura petal off of his clothing. Izuku snorts, a petal falling off of his nose from the action.

"They're so pretty though! Look, we can use them for the castle!" The verdanette places the fallen petal onto the sandcastle that didn't look much like a castle. It looked more like a sad lump of sand with little drawings etched onto its surface.

Tenko and Izuku were in a sandpit at the park where they met, their mothers only 10 yards away. It had been a month since Tenko was placed under June's care and spring was now in full bloom, the boy's seventh birthday coming closer. Petals covered every inch of the playground, it was on swingsets, on monkey bars, and parents and children alike.

"Hiya! Can I play with you guys?" Izuku turned around to see a young girl with a light blue dress and startling cat-like yellow eyes that glinted mischievously. The verdanette is quick to agree, and the young girl sits down in front of the sand mound. The sand was bound to get in her dress, but she didn't care.

"Whattaya making?"

"A sandcastle!"

Tenko tuned out the chatterboxes, more intent on making little shapes in the sand. He didn't mind her presence, she was just… loud. She seemed like a nice enough girl, she was just tiring. In his six-year-old mind, it didn't make much sense. Izuku was similar to her in general personality and was almost equally as energetic. Thing is, he didn't make the bluenette tired. Tenko discarded the thought, thinking it was a problem for future Tenko.

"So, what's you guys' name?" The girl asks. Izuku supplies his name, and after gentle prodding, Tenko both writes and says his own. The blonde flashed a grin that was missing a couple of teeth and pulls the startled pair into a hug.

"I'm Toga Himiko! I'll call you guys Te-chan and Izu-chan, kay?"

-o0o-

It's the day after Izuku's birthday, and the trio of misfits is playing with his newly gifted toys. The toys mainly consisted of pro-hero figurines but were scattered with art supplies and ballet dolls modeled after famous dancers.

"Oh yeah! I got my sharp teeth in!" Himiko exclaims, peeling back her upper lip to show off two incredibly sharp canines. Izuku revels in her excitement, lightly bouncing up and down on his cushion.

"Those are pretty sharp. Wonder why?" Tenko cocks his head to the side as he sets down a hand-me-down figurine of Shimura Nana. She was his favorite, naturally, due to being her grandson.

"Momma said it's my quirk. I'm a late bloomer, kinda like my Papa!"

"What're your parent's quirks anyway?" Izuku asks, curiously lifting Himiko's hand. He wanted to see if there were any other mutations on Himiko other than her teeth.

"Uhh, I think Papa's is some kinda blood thing? Oh yeah! When he drinks blood it makes him stronger an' stuff! Momma can make herself look different, it's pretty cool! She doesn't do it a lot though," The blonde explained. Izuku and Tenko made an 'o' shape with their mouths and dropped her hand.

"Well, maybe you need blood for your quirk?" Izuku pointed to a barely visible vein on his arm, implying what would probably make his mother faint from shock. Tenko's brows were furrowed and a pout made its way onto his face.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea…" The bluenette murmured. He didn't want his best friend to be hurt.

"It'll be fine, Koko! I'll just get a little bit, I won't be hurt," Izuku reassured Tenko, patting his head. The bluenette wasn't completely swayed, but he let it be with a sigh.

"Alright, fine. June told me people get sick if they lose blood and stuff, so not too much." Tenko relented and was rewarded with the blinding smiles of his friends. He stood and walked over to June's sewing desk, where she kept everything craft related. Of course, needles were included in the bunch.

After opening a couple of cabinets and going through them, he found a small sewing needle. He walked back over to find the pair already bored and playing with toys again.

"Found a needle." Himiko startled, dropping her figurine and whirling around before devolving into a fit of giggles. Izuku and Tenko quickly followed suit as the bluenette sat down in front of Izuku. Once their laughing subsided, Tenko adopted a serious demeanor.

"This is gonna hurt, you sure that you want to do this?" Tenko asked, making sure that Izuku wanted to give his blood to Himiko. A fearful glint fell into the verdanette's eyes, but he nodded anyways with a hum. Tenko sighed and held the small needle to Izuku's waiting finger.

"Okay, three, two, one…" A small prick and a bit of pain later, they had the blood. It wasn't much, but it was enough for what they wanted. Himiko looked entranced by the small drops of blood. Her eyes were sparkling with hunger and want, her small lips parted. She swiped her finger across Izuku's and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes sparkled with joy and she grinned a sharp smile.

"Who knew blood tasted so good?" Himiko almost vibrated with excitement, her little arms going up and down with restless energy. Izuku gave her a quizzical look and looked down at his still bleeding finger. He popped it in his mouth, much to Tenko's confusion.

"It tastes kinda like pennies," Izuku mumbled, pulling his finger out of his mouth. Tenko snorted, putting the needle onto the table.

"And how do you know what pennies taste like?" Izuku's face erupted into a cherry-red blush and he covered his face with his arms as he mumbled something incomprehensible. Tenko turned to Himiko, who was laughing about the verdanette's current state.

"So, Himi-chan, do you feel anything?" The blonde girl turned to face Tenko and furrowed her brows. She hummed as she tapped her lip, which gained the attention of the semi-calm Izuku.

"Uh.. kinda? I feel… buzzy. Yeah, buzzy! Down where my tummy is." She poked the area where her stomach was and looked back up to the boys. Izuku's brows were furrowed as he tapped his chin in thought.

"Maybe try… uh, what's the word? When you think kinda hard?" Izuku turned towards Tenko, who gave him an affectionate snort.

"Concentrating."

"Yeah, thanks, Koko! Try concentrating on it. Maybe it'll make your quirk work!" Izuku suggested, excitedly gesticulating as he spoke. Himiko nodded and tightly closed her eyes. They waited a few seconds, and her skin started… melting? Izuku almost jumped up to help her, but Tenko held him back with a hand on his shoulder. In a minute, she looked exactly like Izuku, down to his blue shirt and black cargo shorts.

"Woah! You look like me!" Izuku exclaimed, eyes blown wide in shock and wonder. Tenko looked similar, almost falling over from how far he leaned forward. Himiko opened her eyes, and at the sight of her now-freckled arm, squealed. She scrambled over to the bathroom across the house, the boys following suit.

When the former blonde saw her reflection in the mirror, she couldn't believe her eyes. An earth-shattering squeal erupted from her now chapped lips. She had his freckles, the little blue specks in his eyes, everything! She looked just like her friend! It sounded like there was pounding from above her, but she ignored it, too swept up in glee and excitement.

"Can you believe it?!" She squeaked with Izuku's voice, almost not believing her ears. Izuku, the real one, grabbed onto her hand as he jumped up and down. She gripped onto Tenko's, forcing him into the circle of contagious excitement. The thunderous pounding came closer, and June skidded into the bathroom, Inko just behind her.

"What's happening?! Is someone hurt?!" June yelled, startling the trio. When she saw the second Izuku and lack of Himiko, she sighed and slapped her forehead.

"Okay, what happened?"

Suffice to say, all three were grounded for a month.

-o0o-

**Alright! I hope you enjoyed this incredibly late chapter. Took me a while, but at least it's done? If you can, please join the discord server? I'm lonely ;v;.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Uh, so, I tried to get this uploaded on time, but that clearly didn't happen. Also, don't get into a stranger's car just because they claim to be someone important, like a nurse. You'll see why I say that later. I only wrote it like that for the sake of moving this chapter along. Sorry for the Discord link not working? I'm not gonna try to re-do it since is never going to let me make a working link as far as I know. I'm too used to Ao3 I suppose. If there is a way, please tell me?**

**I had to shuffle around the Todoroki sibling's ages for this story to work. Fuyumi is the oldest at twelve, Natsuo is ten, Touya is seven, and Shouto is five. Just to clear that up.**

**And onto the reviews! I'm happy I got people to review, makes me smile. And thank you to the rest that complimented my story, I greatly appreciate it, I just wanted to respond to this one.**

**Samthekiller14 said: I'm listening to a song with the exact same title as this story!**

**Well, I'm afraid you have unlocked the backstory behind this story. The song is by Fall Out Boy, at least the one that inspired this. There may be another with the same title. Great song, and it more or less inspired this with the lyrics 'Racing through the city, windows down, in the back of, yellow-checkered cars' I don't know why, but it made me think of just generally having fun with friends? I developed a story out of that where Izuku has, you know, friends as a kid that would have become villains under different circumstances. There aren't enough of these where they're just having fun, not killing or doing illegal stuff, just being teenagers. So here we are now!**

**Vwheel10 said: The dynamic between Izuku and Tenko is absolutely adorable.**

**I didn't feature this for any particular reason, I just found it cute and it reminded me to mention this. This story is TomuDeku endgame (or in this case TenkoDeku?) The only reason I didn't put it in as a relationship is because that's not going to happen for a really long time. There is going to be a lot of silly dancing around each other, trauma from various events, etc. that bring them together. Anyways, I felt that I needed to say that.**

-o0o-

'_No, no, nononono, can't go back there I can't I can't he's gonna get me gotta run!_'

Touya's thoughts were running at a mile a minute. The only thing keeping him on his feet was adrenaline and fear. He didn't want to think about it, didn't want to think about what waited for him at home, but it was all he could think of.

_-A large hand hitting him across his already burning face-_

Concrete pounded underfoot, the young boy's feet blistering from the hot sidewalk. It was minuscule compared to the burns arcing up and down his body.

_-Father yelling at him to 'Get up, you can do better than that!'-_

Salty tears that felt like fire burnt the marks directly underneath bloodshot eyes. All he could see was the bumpy sidewalk and the road directly beside him.

_-Standing up on shaky legs only to get knocked back down again.-_

His hand reached up to sweep those damning red locks out of his eyes. Even that simple action hurt, the edges of rough hair grating against almost raw muscle.

_-Big brother taking the kick intended for him, as Mother used to do.-_

There was a park directly in front of him, no one that he could see was there. It was perfect. Dabi went to take a turn into the safe haven but fell flat on his face.

-o0o-

"Buh-bye, Koko!" Izuku waved from his car to Tenko, having to leave to go do… something. He couldn't remember. June and Tenko waved back, staying behind at the park.

"Well, kiddo? Wanna go home or stay here?" June asked, looking down at the bluenette. He murmured something that sounded vaguely like 'here' and made his way over to the swingset. He couldn't explain it, but something was niggling at his brain, telling him to stay at the park.

It didn't take long for whatever reason that he wanted to stay at the park happened. A boy was barreling down the sidewalk and right as he made a turn into the park he tripped and fell, badly. Even from a distance, it was easy to tell that he was heavily injured. The boy had dark, ugly burns up and down his body that were noticeably fresh.

Tenko bolted off his swing set and over to the collapsed boy. He looked around, but June was talking on the phone with a serious look on her face and he didn't want to bother her. When she had a look like that she was talking to someone important. She said it was someone called an 'information broker' or something like that.

"Hey, are you okay? Wait, no, that's a dumb question. Uh, what do I do in this situation…" Tenko murmured, his hands ghosting over the shaking form of the boy. His arms were shaking from over-exertion as he tried and failed to push himself up. Wheezing gasps filled with pain and exhaustion tumbled from the boy's lips as he continued trying.

'_Oh Kami, I don't know what to do, why did that guy hafta call June now?!'_

"Can you," The boy coughed violently, his voice rough and scratchy from overuse. "Can you move me somewhere. Not here." Tenko nodded, but the boy was heavily injured. Anywhere he touched would probably only hurt him further. He looked over to where June was, who was now looking around, her head swiveling back and forth. The strip in her hair was slowly changing from a grey-blue to a dark purple.

"June! Over, over here!" Her head snapped towards him, and visible relief came in the form of her hair strip turning a light pink. She quickly ran over, but the boy was beginning to panic. His bloodshot eyes were darting this way and that, and he seemed to regain enough energy to push himself onto his side.

"No! Not an, not an adult, please, they'll take me back, please, don't," The boy exclaimed, but it sounded more like a hoarse whisper than a yell. June skidded on her feet by the boy, immediately taking in his wounds like a trained professional. Not an ounce of emotion came through on her stoic face, the only thing betraying her being her bright purple hair and eyes. It was moments like these that she wished her quirk was more easily hidden.

"Kiddo, it's okay. I'm a nurse. Want me to call an ambulance, or is it not safe?" She asked with practiced calm. The boy didn't know what the changing colors meant, and she was thankful for that. The kid shook his head quickly, panic clouding his eyes.

"No, please, no hospitals! He'll find me, I can't." The boy broke off into a coughing fit again, and June shut down her emotions with practiced ease. Everything about her went grey, quite literally.

"Alright, but I'll need to take you to my home to fix you up. I promise that I won't tell anyone unless you ask. Got that?" The kid nodded, and June picked up the surprisingly light kid. He hissed in pain but didn't do anything outside of that.

"Tenko, c'mon. When we get into the car I am going to need you to support his head and keep him talking. He could have a slight concussion, and while I doubt it, it never hurts to be careful." The tall woman briskly made her way to the car before being stopped by what looked to be another parent.

"I'm sorry, but just where do you think you are going with those children?" The woman asked with an accusatory tone. She had sharp, snake-like features and was covered in black and red scales.

"What?"

"Do you need me to call the police?! You're taking unattended _children_ with you into your car." June's eyes widened, and all she could bring herself to do was tilt her head at the injured boy in her arms. She needed to give him medical attention, not have some random parent accuse her of kidnapping. While she understood where the woman was coming from, she didn't need this right now.

"Don't just tilt your fucking head at me! I'm calling the police and taking these children with me," The lady screamed and then made a grab for both the boy and Tenko. June managed to keep her from touching the boy, but she had grabbed Tenko by the wrist. The sight of the person closest to her heart manhandled and on the verge of tears triggered some parental instinct in her.

"Don't you fucking dare touch my child. Let him go, and you won't leave with a broken wrist," June snarled, and just when she was about to snap the lady like a twig, a chilling cool came over her. Her breath misted and the unknown boy's eyes snapped open. She turned to see what looked to be a middle school-aged girl with glasses.

"Uhm, hello? I'm sorry for using my quirk on you. I'm Todoroki Fuyumi. May I ask why you are holding my little brother, miss with the brown hair?" The unknown woman shot June a look that was both smug and disgusted, somehow. Tenko yanked his arm out of the lady's grasp. Upon further inspection, the young girl, Fuyumi, had a nasty bruise on her cheek and a burn on her leg.

"This is your brother? I'm a nurse, I was going to give him medical attention," June hesitated against giving the girl this information, but the likeness in facial features between the siblings was uncanny. "He asked me to not bring him to a hospital." The girl nodded and smiled, approaching further while attempting to cover up her limp. June felt bad for going against the boy's wishes, but the girl was clearly his sister and was also injured.

"Yeah. Thank you for listening to him. We have our… reasons. That I can't disclose. Uh, you said you were, um, a nurse, right?" June nodded and glanced at the lady beside her. She looked like she was ready to explode and was glaring holes into Tenko. The boy, who had regained his stubbornness, was glaring right back. June was a little proud of him. Just a little.

"Oh, uh, would you mind still giving him some medical attention? He… he needs it. And I don't think I can get him back to the house myself." June smiled softly, and told her 'Yes, of course, I wouldn't mind.' They left the random woman standing on the sidewalk.

-o0o-

"Thank you, for taking care of us," Fuyumi murmured into her cup, swinging her newly-bandaged leg. The sun had set, and while June would love to get her and her brother home, if they both are that messed up, something is wrong at home. Possibly abuse? She didn't know.

The boy, who she found out is called Touya, is asleep in the spare room. June, Fuyumi, and Tenko were in the living room.

"It was no problem. It's my job to help people, after all." Fuyumi gave a nod and glanced up at her warily, as though she wanted to ask a question. Tenko sat beside her on the couch and looked like he was about to fall asleep.

"Hey kiddo, you should go up to your room and get some sleep." The boy didn't even bother fighting it, he just nodded and made his way up the stairs. Fuyumi gave a sigh of what sounded like relief and lifted her head properly.

"Uhm, I should probably get Touya and head back to the house. Thank you, again, for helping us." Just as she made to stand, June put a hand on her shoulder.

"Oi, you and Touya are hurt. I don't think it's good for you to be heading back to wherever you came from right now." It wasn't a demand, more of a recommendation, but that didn't change that her tone was… stern. Fuyumi flinched and sat back down quickly. Her eyes were wide and she was biting her lip like she was about to cry.

"Shit, shit, I'm sorry, I'm bad at this. I didn't mean to make you upset, uh, what?" Fuyumi turned and hugged her, burying her head into June's neck. Her back shook and shuddered with suppressed sobs. June hesitantly wrapped her arms around the crying girl and sat there, rocking her slightly.

When she finished crying, Fuyumi leaned back and wiped her tears after taking off her glasses. She took out a lens wipe and cleaned them while June waited for her to speak.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, to, to break down like that." Fuyumi stammered, wringing her hands together. Her brown eyes still shone with unshed tears. June put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

"There's no need to apologize. However, is there something you need to tell me? I don't feel comfortable sending you and your brother back to your home without knowing what you two will be facing." Fuyumi sniffled and bit her lip, gnawing on it in frustration. She looked up through red-rimmed glasses made eye contact with June.

"I won't tell anyone if you don't want me too. Not even the police. I promise." The conviction and earnestness shone through June's eyes, quite literally. They were a blood-red, much like her adopted son's.

"I-I… It's just, it's just really hard to talk… about. He… if he found out…" Fuyumi heaved a sob, covering her mouth while tears streamed down her face. June didn't know what to do in this kind of situation. Her quirk may be based on emotion, but it doesn't help her in any way in the emotion category. If anything, it hinders her with the pieces she can't conceal, especially if someone knew what each color means.

"You can take your time. It's okay."

"No. I'm not, I'm not gonna say it if I don't, if I don't say it now." Fuyumi took a breath to settle herself and wiped at her cheeks. She gnawed on her lip as her brows furrowed and new tears sprang up.

"It's… he doesn't hurt us all. He doesn't hurt us 'failures', most of the time," Fuyumi said with a sneer that just didn't look right on her kind face. "Not unless… not unless we get in the way of the 'successes'. Touya… he's one of Father's successes. At least, at least he used to be, before today. I was never allowed around him. I haven't talked to him since I was ten. It's insane… it's like Otouto, Natsuo that is, and I are in an entirely different world compared to Touya and Shouto."

Fuyumi let out another sob that only worked to twist June's heart further. That story sounded horrible, and she was grateful that she didn't grow up like that. Her past may not have been the kindest and she wasn't frolicking in fields as a kid, but at the very least she knew that her parents had loved her and her sister.

"Oh, Shouto… I think that out of all of us, he's had it, he's had it the worst. Mother, she was so kind. It was just, she protected us, y'know?" June didn't like the past tense. Did their mother die? Did their father kill- "I know what you're thinking, an', and she isn't dead. Might as well be to the rest of the world though. When, when Shouto got his quirk… oh, it was the worst day of my life, I think. That and today. I know I should be happy! He has such a great quirk. But all it does, all it does is hurt him. Indirectly, that is. Father was… he was overjoyed. He was so happy that his stupid marriage came to produce Shouto, his very own golden egg."

"I don't feel like this is much my story to tell… but I, I have to, just, please, don't tell anyone about this." June nodded, letting Fuyumi take her hands. The girl was surprisingly strong for someone who looked to only be twelve. "Shouto… his quirk, when it came in, I wasn't there. I was outside of the dojo. He was a week past turning four years old, and Father was angry. Every day that Shouto's quirk didn't come in, Father would… he would only train him longer and harder. It was more like he was throwing him around than training. During that week, Mother was… Mother would intervene. When Father hit him too hard, Mother would come in and, and beg for him to stop. Then, then he would just… throw her away like, like she was trash. Sometimes… sometimes she would take the hits for him. And I hate it, but, but Natsuo, he's starting to do that. His arm is broken now, because he tried to shield Touya."

"Anyways… when his quirk came in… the dojo exploded. I wasn't hurt that badly, I don't think it would have mattered either way. There was fire, which I thought was Father's, and there was ice, which I knew was undoubtedly Shouto's. He had gotten his quirk, and for a moment, I was so happy that he got Mother's. I thought it meant that he wouldn't have to live like… like he was some trophy. But… the fire and ice were his. He got Mother's quirk on his right, and Father's on his left. I didn't see him for about another year after that. Only in passing."

"Then, I saw him again about six months ago, when Mother… when Mother poured boiling water from the tea kettle on his left. I only saw because I heard him… I heard him screaming. And it wasn't the kind that would come from Father hitting him. It was the kind when one wouldn't expect it. It looked… horrible. He looked so, so scared and sad and betrayed afterwards. When Mother was carted off to a mental ward he was screaming and crying, he even bit Father in an attempt to make him change his mind. He kept screaming that it was Father's fault! That he was the reason this was happening."

"...And it is. It's one hundred percent that, that _bastard's_ fault that Mother went insane. He hurt her, he just hurt Touya, he hurt me, he hurt otouto, he's still hurting Shouto, he keeps hurting all of us! I just, I know I'm supposed to love him, he's my father-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there. You don't need to love him. From what I've heard that man is more of a sperm donor than an actual parent. Parents are supposed to love their children, but children aren't supposed to love their parents. If he doesn't love you, there is absolutely no reason to love him. He deserves to be hated." June took a deep breath and steeled her gaze. She hoped beyond all hope that she was wrong, but she knew that she wasn't. Fuyumi was looking at her with grief, sorrow, and some form of awe in her gaze. Grief for her mother being gone, sorrow for her and her siblings being hurt so terribly, and awe for June being able to support her. June thought she didn't deserve it, but she felt a small amount of pride at possibly helping the girl.

"Your father… he's Endeavor, isn't he." Judging by Fuyumi's flinch and how she seemed to curl into herself further, she was right. June knew that she didn't need to explain how she knew, Fuyumi knew what she was risking with the details about Shouto and his life.

There was a gigantic media outbreak dating around six months ago centering around Endeavor and his family, whom's names were never released. His wife was sent to a psychiatric ward for pouring boiling water over her son's face. The only information the media had outside of that was that his wife had an ice quirk and the burned son had both his father and mother's quirk. Not one member of the family was known to the public, and it was meant to stay that way.

June had pitied the man at first, but now her whole perception of Endeavor was broken and crumbled into an abusive father. She knew that he was hot-headed, but there was certainly a difference between the character that one presents to the public and one that stays behind closed doors. She just didn't know that he was actually worse behind closed doors.

"I… this is a tough situation. I understand, now, why neither of you wanted to go to a hospital and that nothing could be done." Fuyumi looked up but had to take off her tear-smattered glasses. It was hard to see, but she would live. She thought that June could kick her out and call her father. She knew it was ridiculous, the woman was trustworthy, but the general suspicion was still there.

"And don't worry. I'm not going to call your father. You can stay here as long as you need, and whenever you need somewhere to go, call me. I'll give you my number?" June dug her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Fuyumi. The girl stared at it through squinted eyes and for a second June thought she didn't know how to use a phone.

"Uhh, can you put it in for me? I… need to clean my glasses. They're, you know. Dirty. From… yeah." June laughed and took the phone back from Fuyumi.

"Yeah, sure."

-o0o-

**Oooh boy, this ended up being so much longer than I expected. There is a possibility that the next chapter will be late, I'm doing a secret santa thing with my discord friends and need to get that done. Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

It had been about a month since the Todoroki siblings left June's home. She hadn't heard from Fuyumi since, and she was starting to get worried. It was more of an itch in the back of her brain than anything. She was cooking a late lunch for Tenko and his friends when she heard the phone ring. She had set a specific tune that sounded slightly like a fire alarm for Fuyumi.

'Huh. Well, speak of the devil and he shall come I suppose.'

She picked up the phone, still cooking with the other hand, and answered after putting it on speaker.

"Hey, uhm, June? It's alright if I call you that?" Fuyumi's voice came almost crystal clear through the speaker. Call quality had improved since June was a kid.

"Oh, yeah, of course. Did ya need something?"

"Oh, uh, no, not really. Touya just… Touya wants to see Tenko, I think. Is it alright if I come over? Of course, not if you don't want me to!" June snorted and flipped the eggs in the pan. A squeal came from the living room, probably from Himiko.

"No, no, it's fine! No need to freak out. However, Tenko's friends are over at the moment and are staying for the night. If he wants he can come to meet them? Maybe stay over?" There was some muttering on the line, and then it went silent for maybe five seconds. Afterward, there was more muttering and Fuyumi's voice came clearly through the speaker again.

"Yeah, he, uhm, he'd love to! He's all healed up by the way. Got a healing quirk user to help him some. Anyways, I guess I'll see you in an hour?" June nodded despite knowing that Fuyumi couldn't see her.

"Yeah, see ya then."

-o0o-

Izuku was excited. Like, out of his mind excited. Tenko had made a new friend that he hadn't mentioned and he was coming over! Himiko was equally excited, almost jumping up in the air when the doorbell rang. He would have run to the door, but June had said not to. Therefore, naturally, Izuku would listen.

When the door opened, a girl that looked a bit older, kind of like a middle schooler walked through. Izuku was a little bit confused until he saw the boy about Tenko's age behind her. He was covered in dark purple scars that changed abruptly into pale skin with tight black stitches holding the flesh together. It was all over him, under his eyes, on his cheeks down to his shirt, and on his hands. Izuku couldn't see much because of the boy wearing a long-sleeve shirt and pants, but he could tell that there were more.

'What happened to him?'

Despite being a five-year-old, or maybe because of his age, Izuku was very good with emotions. He latched onto them, not unlike a leech and could identify almost every shift in mood. Before he was diagnosed as quirkless, his mother would joke and say that was his quirk. He stood up and made his way over to the boy and his older sister.

"Hi, I'm Midoriya Izuku! Himi-chan calls me Izu-chan, you can call me that if ya want!" Izuku bowed lightly to the boy and straightened back up with a grin. The red-head had a startled look on his face and cocked his head to the side.

"I… uh, I wanna be called Dabi. Please." The boy, now named Dabi, tugged at the sleeves of his shirt and looked awkwardly to the side. Izuku found it more than a little weird that he said he wanted to be called Dabi like it wasn't his real name. Even if it wasn't, the thought was quickly discarded in the excitement of making a new friend. As well as Himiko coming up beside him and almost blinding him with a smile. Her formerly slitted pupils were blown wide in a show of excitement.

"Hiya, I'm Toga Himiko, call me Himi-chan, new best friend!" The blonde girl exclaimed. Dabi flinched back but quickly straightened back up. He nodded and shuffled his feet, eyebrows furrowed and eyes downcast. Tenko came up beside Izuku and gripped his wrist in a silent ask for help. He didn't know how to talk to Dabi.

"I call 'im Koko, and Himi-chan calls him Te-chan! Just call him that if ya want, only I can call him Koko." Tenko shyly smiled and waved his gloved hand that quickly drifted towards his neck. The two bare fingers began lightly scratching at his skin before Izuku stopped him.

"Oh, uh, hi again, Te… chan?" Dabi murmured, looking up at him through a curtain of red locks.

"So you... " He pointed at Himiko, cocking his head to the side, "want to be called Himi-chan? And you wanna be called," He moved his arm to Izuku, "Izu-chan?"

Two bright grins and thirty minutes of playing in the backyard later, and Dabi had made his first friends.

-o0o-

A cloaked figure sprinted through the alleyways of Musutafu, in high pursuit of a villain known as Neckbreaker. An edgy name in the man's opinion, but he wasn't one to judge. Well, he was, but not outwardly. Neckbreaker finally got into the man's line of sight for long enough to activate his quirk, and suddenly his momentum stopped and he seemed to deflate. A capture scarf made of metal alloy quickly wound its way around Neckbreaker and rendered him immobile.

"Nice catch, Eraser. Almost had 'im, though." A distorted voice sounded through the alleyway. A hooded figure jumped from the roof and dusted off imaginary grime. Shouta took a pouch out of his utility belt and opened it underneath Neckbreaker's nose, quickly knocking him out.

"Eh, it's not that big of a deal. After all, you're not the one getting paid for this, Mercury." He shrugged and turned towards Mercury, a vigilante that had arrived on the scene a few years before Shouta got his hero license. She had dark blue ski goggles and gloves, that being the only colorful thing on her body. Her hoodie was black, the edges being rimmed in something silver and shiny. Her mask that acted both to filter out gasses and distorts her voice was also silver.

"Right as always. Anyways, catching baddies isn't the only thing I'm out here for tonight. Let's get movin' while I talk so Neckbreaker doesn't wake up." Shouta nodded and hauled him onto his shoulder. He would drag him since his capture weapon would protect Neckbreaker from unnecessary injury, but there was no need to damage his capture weapon like that.

"So, my kiddo's best friend is turnin' ten soon, and his party is being held at my place. He's recently found out about you, and lemme tell ya, if he saw you there it would make his entire year. You get where I'm goin' with this?" Shouta raised an eyebrow and lowered his goggles to his neck. He observed the woman that he's known for almost seven years and couldn't find any hint of trickery.

"You're inviting me to your home to entertain some brat? I don't even know your name, let alone where you live." A sudden thought struck him, and he ran a hand through his hair. "Wait for a second, how does this kid even know who I am? I'm an underground hero. There's no way he found me on the news or something. Did you tell him about me?" Shouta squinted his eyes at her, the orange and blue of a nearby bar sign reflecting off her goggles. She had stuck her hands behind her head and was walking with a slight skip.

"Do ya think I'm stupid or something? Of course, I didn't. Kiddo's smart and obsessed with heroes. Specifically, ones that fight practically quirkless, much like you. I think he's got at least eight notebooks on quirks and heroes by this point." They were approaching the police station now, the strange pale blue of the interior shining through the windows and onto the pair.

"Why is he so interested in that kinda thing? I thought that kid's big thing now was flashy quirks like All Might and Endeavor. Y'know, top-ranked heroes." Mercury hummed as though contemplating the question. She opened the door for Shouta and continued to the front desk.

"Kid's quirkless and wants to be a hero. That's why this kinda thing is such a big deal to him. He looks up to people like you, that defy basic expectations." Shouta's eyes widened as he flagged down an exhausted officer. As he spoke to her and showed his license he thought about it. Quirkless kids were pretty rare these days. Sure, by this point there was a solid ten percent of the population that was quirkless, but that's the old and dying. This generation only had about .01 percent quirkless. Quirkless rates had dropped dramatically with the past two generations.

As they walked out of the station and were once again passing the bar, Shouta waved Mercury to a stop.

"I'll go, but on one condition. I gotta know your name." He grumbled as Mercury snorted. She unlatched her goggles and slid off her black hoodie, revealing the chocolate brown hair with a blue streak in it, her eyes equally as vibrant.

"Well, duh. The name's Gallagher June, but none of that formality shit. Just June."

-o0o-

**Well, tada? It's Eraserhead! Were any of you surprised by June's reveal as a vigilante? Sorry about the short chapter. I just felt like this was the right time to end it, y'know? I guess last chapter being crazy long pays for it, though. Anyways, please review if you can, and ask questions! I'll answer them if it doesn't spoil the story.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Uh, hi? I'm alive! I know it took forever, but second semester is killing me. I also have finals coming up so these sparse updates may or may not become commonplace. Well, enjoy!**

-o0o-

Shouta sighed and dragged a hand down his face. This mystery kid's birthday just had to be at midnight. His head knocked against the glass behind him, the train rattling his skull. It helped to calm his thoughts a little. The train car was almost empty, only a few drunks and crackheads riding that seemed to accept him as one of their own. Not that Shouta can really blame them, that's what he was going for.

The train screeched to a stop and he stood up and got off the train. A couple of drunken cheers for something or the other sounded behind him and he was on his way to June's house. He took the long and complicated way, his paranoia always itching at the back of his brain. He may not like this gig, but he wasn't about to lead a villain to a trusted vigilante, and dare he say, friend's home. His arrival at the house was unremarkable, the simple and sleek style of the house only slightly differing from the rest of the cookie-cutter neighborhood.

Ringing the doorbell, Shouta took a step back. He could hear the excited chatter of a couple of children and let out a sigh. The door swung open, and June motioned for him to come inside. The first kid he saw had white-blue hair and was covered in old scars and new scratches, too much for a normal kid. This must be June's brat.

The next two he saw looked to be of the same caliber of fucked up and insane. He wasn't going to judge based on appearance, but those kids were unnerving, to say the least. One kid with burgundy hair had vicious purple burn scars all over him and was scrutinizing him heavily. The other was an excited blonde girl that almost teleported to him with how fast she ran. She started rattling off questions and statements at what seemed like the speed of sound, so fast that Shouta developed a headache.

The last kid he saw looked to be the youngest and was probably the birthday boy. He looked to only be eight, but it was his tenth birthday so he must just look really young for his age. The mystery kid's jaw was dropped wide open, his eyes the size of saucers. Shouta couldn't tell if his eyes were black or if his pupils were somehow that dilated.

"Holy shit." A scandalized murmur of the mystery kid's name left the lips of the woman presumed to be the boy's mother as the rest of the room burst into raucous laughter. The blonde that was next to him had doubled over and had a hand on his shoulder for balance. The kid shakily stood up and half-jogged over to Shouta. He began circling him and Shouta felt kind of like a test rat under the boy's gaze.

"There's no way, this is really him! I've been tracking him for weeks, how the hell did June get him before me? Even the capture weapon is on him, maybe I can figure out how it works…" The kid devolved into a mutter that sent shivers down Shouta's spine as he talked about how hard it was to find him and even follow him a full kilometer, as well as his track record of villains and how he fought. He began prodding at the capture weapon just as Shouta felt his soul leave his body.

"Izu-chan, maybe introduce yourself first? I think you're freaking him out," The blonde girl suggested, and as Shouta was about to sigh in relief, the kid just kept going. The girl had to shake him to make him stop. He let out a squeak and jumped into the air before bowing to him.

"Sor- sorry! I get carried away sometimes! I'm, uh, I'm Midoriya Izuku, Eraserhead sir!" The boy straightened up and shuffled his feet, still looking down at the floor. He began chewing on his heavily chapped lips and dug his nails into his arm. The kid really needed chapstick. And maybe some safety gloves, he was beginning to bleed and hadn't even noticed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shouta noticed the girl staring at the blood with a strange passion in her eyes. Well, that confirms it, he just walked into a nut house and was about to be murdered. Welp, tell his mother he loves her. He should've written his will already god he was so stupid where would his stuff go-

"Oh my- Eraser, relax, they won't kill ya. They're just… kinda weird for pre-teens." June snorted as Shouta's eyes lost their cloudy look. He grimaced and jabbed a finger towards Izuku, who startled upon the sudden contact.

"He's stalking me. What do you even expect me to think?" Shouta hissed through his teeth, looking much like a cornered cat. The blue-white-haired kid chuckled and leaned back on the couch and stared into his soul.

"S'not that bad. I'm pretty sure he actually found-"

"Shut up!" Midoriya hissed, scrambling over to the older kid and putting him into a chokehold. The kid was laughing as he flicked the boy in the head. Midoriya relented and pouted when he stood up, shaking the younger off of his back.

"Well, anyways, I'm gonna introduce myself. 'M Shimura Tenko, pleasure to meet you or whatever." The kid, Shimura, held out a hand with a black artist's glove on it. It either had to do with his quirk or he just had a horrible sense of fashion. Shota extended his own and shook it, Shimura having a surprisingly strong grip.

"Aizawa Shouta." Shouta rubbed his hand before tucking it in his pocket. The blonde girl from earlier ran up and introduced herself, telling the scarred kid to 'have some manners' and introduce himself as well. All he gave was a murmured 'Dabi'.

"Alright, let's get this birthday underway!"

-o0o-

Grunting as he fell backward onto the mat, Izuku shakily stood up and shifted into a fighting stance, tonfa at the ready. Shouta knocked his arms down lightly and ruffled his hair.

"That's enough for today, problem child. You got it." Izuku pouted, following after Shouta and grabbing a towel and water bottle. He made sure to tuck the eskrima rods into the utility belt on his hips. It had been over a year since Shouta took Izuku under his wing and began training him on both his analysis and physical fighting. Izuku had taken to it like a fish to water, learning quickly though sometimes overworking himself. Shota finding out about that hadn't been the best moment in his life.

"But Sho-nii-"

"Nope. No whining. I've had a long enough day as it is." Shouta continued walking, out the doors and through alleyways. While it was annoying, Izuku understood why. After all, it kept him off Shouta's tail for a few months while he was nine.

"You're starting middle school soon, right?" Shouta asked, hands tucked in his pockets. Izuku was now twelve and in his last year of primary school. Taking a swig from his water bottle, Izuku nodded.

"We need to amp up your training. As much as I hate to say it…" Izuku's eyes widened and he jogged in front of Shouta. There was no way that he'd let Izuku do it, right?

"You'll be doing fieldwork." Izuku jumped for joy, squealing like a little kid at the circus. He spun around as Shouta continued to walk, seemingly not caring.

"You'll have to be with either me or June, not just Tenko, at all times. We can't have you getting killed your first time on the job," Shouto sighed, knowing that this would probably turn into a shitshow the moment that he let Izuku out of his sight. "You must be very careful, and I am not afraid to take this away the moment your grades slip or I see you overworking yourself. Do I make myself clear?" Izuku saluted stiffly, a bright grin gracing his features.

"Crystal!"

-o0o-

Crouched on the rooftop between June and Tenko, Izuku rolled his eyes behind his purple-tinted goggles. June was listing the rules again, making sure that he wouldn't do anything out of line. He appreciated her concern, but it was beginning to get annoying.

"I think that he gets it," Tenko chuckled, the silver and dark red gas mask he wore distorting his voice. The three were wearing matching black hoodies with silver trim and a rhombus in the middle, marking them as members of HAAO, otherwise known as Heroes Against All Odds.

HAAO isn't the biggest organization out there, only standing at 11 members, but they are big enough to the underground. It was rare for vigilantes to form a group due to the popularity and traction it would gain with the media. The heroes couldn't mark them down as underground heroes to the public by that point.

"Uh, so we've gone over the rules a bajillion times, but… what do we do at this point? Just wait for some criminals?" Izuku gestured to the concrete jungle below them, almost empty except for some workers on the graveyard shift and a couple of college kids. It wasn't the best neighborhood, which was the point of patrolling there for the night.

"Pretty much, yeah. Thanks to Geode we have access to a lot of the security here and get alerted when a crime is happening." June opened a latch on the forearm of her costume, revealing a home menu for a modified tablet. Swiping through the options, she pulled up a video feed from the bail-bonds store directly across from them. She swiped through, showing the three cameras on the inside and the four on the outside.

Tenko wore what seemed to be a clunkier version of the tablet, but proudly called it the 'Lil' Pip 3000'. If anyone dared to call it something else he would correct them, again and again until it became too annoying to simply call it a tablet. Izuku knew from experience.

Contrary to the two beside him, Izuku didn't have any electronic gadgets on his body. His forearms bore a copy of Aizawa's capture scarf, his tonfa attached to the tool belt on his hips. The grey tool belt contained basic medical supplies along with a button that, if pressed, will send his location out to all members of the HAAO and Shouta. A knife was strapped to his thigh in the case that tonfa simply wouldn't do the trick. His boots went halfway up his calf, silver knee and elbow pads protecting his joints.

The only spots of color on him and the others were the rhombus, goggles, and in June and Tenko's cases, masks. While still having a mask, it was a simple silver like his visible armor. Tenko's was silver as well, the circles on his gas mask a blood-red like his goggles and rhombus. June wore an electric blue, Izuku wearing a deep purple.

Movement flashed from the corner of his eye, and Izuku turned to focus on a jewelry store a couple shops away. Four people, wearing all black and looking like your cliche robbers, were loitering outside. The store was empty with no light coming from it except for the red coming from the neon 'Closed' sign. Everyone on the street had cleared out, not wanting to be involved in what looked to be a robbery.

June made a hand signal, motioning for the pair to wait. Izuku watched the robbers' movements carefully, slowly slipping his tonfa out of their holsters to not make any noise. One of the robbers pulled out what looked to be a simple stick and pressed it to the electronic lock on the door. A sharp buzzing sound was heard, and the door swung open. The group laughed triumphantly before creeping into the shop.

Climbing off the rooftop to be silent was frustrating, but nothing Izuku couldn't handle. He wished he could just jump down, but that isn't an option when trying to be stealthy. There was no way to fall silently from that height.

Standing directly outside the door, June motioned for Izuku and Tenko to take to the alleys on either side of the store. She pressed herself flat against the wall, waiting for the robbers to make their exit. They weren't the best at robbing, even if she were to make a noise it wouldn't be heard over their babbling.

Finally exiting the shop, June hit the first robber in the temple with the butt of her knife, shocking his friends. The remaining three screamed, running away from her and in Tenko's direction. The moment two of them passed the alleyway, Tenko grabbed them by the back of their shirts and knocked their heads together hard enough to knock them out.

Izuku came running out of his alleyway, June standing to the side to let him get to the last criminal. Her hair whipped around in the night air before hardening into a strange purple color. She stabbed at Izuku, who ducked and swept her feet out from under her in a low kick. He hit an artery in her neck with his gloved fingers, instantly knocking her unconscious.

Tying up the criminals, they called the police and sped off into the night to continue their patrol.

-o0o-

By the end of the night, Izuku was utterly exhausted. They only encountered one more criminal, but running around the city in his thick clothes was torture. The armor he wore underneath the hoodie certainly didn't help.

Flopping down onto Tenko's bed, he turned on his side and stared at the red wall on the other side of the room. It featured multiple posters for video games, bands and TV shows, the occasional figurine scattering the shelves screwed into the wall. He was proud of himself, tonight was his first take-down of someone other than Shouta, June, or Tenko. Even then, they were all going easy on him due to experience.

Tenko walked into the room, rubbing his hair out with a towel. He was wearing a pair of red leggings, and of course, his artist gloves. Izuku absently noted that if you put them together, you'd have a full set of clothes. He was wearing one of Tenko's shirts, and obviously some boxers because he wasn't a heathen.

"So," Tenko stated, brushing his hair out. "How'd you like your first patrol? Exciting, ain't it?" Izuku shrugged, his eyes half-lidded.

"Mn. Yeah, but it was exhausting. Do you normally get that many criminals?" Tenko dug through his wardrobe, grumbling something about his favorite shirt under his breath.

"Nah. Most of the time no one's out. Lucky for you, that wasn't the case tonight." Tenko spun around, no clothes in hand, and scrutinized Izuku.

"Is that my shirt?" Izuku shrugged again, half-asleep.

"Maybe."

"Dude, that's my favorite shirt. It has Bender on it, see?" Izuku didn't care enough to look down.

"Well, 's mine now. G'night." Tenko half-jogged over, not that Izuku could see that. He turned over, pulling the blanket with him.

"No, no, not g'night. That's mine, give it," Tenko demanded, shaking Izuku's shoulders. Izuku let out a loud groan and slapped his hands away.

"Mine now. Go to sleep." Izuku pulled the covers over his head while Tenko pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Fuckin- fine. This isn't over, I'm taking that back in the morning." Tenko walked back over to his wardrobe and pulled out a basic purple shirt before joining Izuku.

"Have fun with that. Now shut up and sleep."

-o0o-

**Well, that was fun to write! Kinda. Took me a while. Sorry bout that. Anyways, please review, ask me questions, the like. I enjoy answering them!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, I updated more than once a month? Shocker. I have spring break and I need to do something with it, so hey, why not?**

-o0o-

Izuku's nails dug into the cloth on his gakuran as he walked to his new school, Aldera Junior High. Himiko and Tenko walked beside him, one skipping as the other chose to walk like a normal person. How Himiko could be so energetic on the first day of school was beyond Izuku.

As the foreboding gates of the school approached, Izuku shrunk further into himself. He was scared. He was scared of what the people at school would think of him. He was scared of what the people at school would _do_ to him.

"Relax, Zuzu," Tenko whispered and grabbed hold of his wrist, squeezing lightly. "No one's gonna hurt you on our watch."

Izuku nodded, blinking away the tears on his lashes. He really needed to stop crying, it was embarrassing. Hopefully, his face isn't red. Rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his gakuran, he met the doors of the school with a wobbly grin. So long as he made a good impression on his class, it would be just fine.

-o0o-

It was not fine.

For starters, Izuku tripped while walking through the door, so that wasn't very fun. At least he didn't face-plant onto the tile.

Once he sat down at his desk in the back corner, his name written on it in cartoon-ish kanji by the teacher, Katsuki and his, well, not friends, but acquaintances, or goons, whatever they would be called, walked in. Izuku was quickly met with a sharp glare when he raised his hand to wave and wilted in his seat. The two following him had relatively plain features, one with the quirk to elongate his fingers and the other with rocks for hair. Izuku couldn't remember their names. The pair stuck their tongues out at him and dragged down their lower eyelids before laughing and high-fiving. Like that was something to be proud of, acting like primary school children.

The bell promptly rang, their homeroom teacher walking in as it finished its tune. She has kind features, light purple hair pulled up in a ponytail. She began speaking, and Izuku listened attentively until he noticed something of a ripple effect.

A note was being passed around the room, people having various reactions to it. Some snickered and scribbled something down, others sneering at it in disgust or with a sympathetic look before passing it to the next person. Izuku didn't know what it was about, but he didn't need to when it landed on his desk.

Katsuki's cronies were glancing at him and sniggering as he opened it. Izuku had a bad feeling and braced himself before reading.

_Pass this to the person next to you! Don't give it to the green-haired guy before everyone's seen._

_Dude's quirkless, did you know? And that he wants to be a hero?_

_What a freak._

_He should just leave, we don't need that here._

_Ew, what if it's contagious? I don't wanna lose my quirk!_

_He wants to be a hero? He should be realistic._

The note had more statements along those lines that Izuku didn't bother with reading.

'_Wow. Creative. C'mon, guys, you can do better than that.'_

Despite this, Izuku still felt the tell-tale pressure build behind his eyes that would give way to tears. Crumpling up the note, he threw it into the trash can behind him.

"Throwing things, Midoriya? That's your one warning for today." The teacher at the front of the room frowned in disapproval, her arms crossed.

'_Can today just end already?'_

-o0o-

The final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day at long last. Izuku packed up his belongings and hurried out the door, knowing what would likely come if he didn't.

He felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned around, muscles tightening up with irrational fear. He knew that at this point he could even send someone as strong as Katsuki to the ground, but he also knew that it wouldn't help him in the slightest if he got burned without his gear. Maybe he should work on fighting without that.

"Uh, hey… you're Midoriya, right?" Izuku's eyes widened slightly and he nodded. Someone other than his bullies or his best friends was talking to him! She was relatively short, which coming from Izuku meant a lot. Her brown hair was pulled into twin braids, matching brown eyes almost shining.

"I, I wanted to tell you that, uh, what that note said, it wasn't okay. I should have just thrown it away when I got it, I'm sorry," The girl murmured, her voice even softer than Tenko on bad days. Izuku could hardly hear her.

"Oh, it's uh, it's alright! I'm, I'm used to it." Izuku bit his lip, shifting from side to side. He didn't know what to say, and it wasn't her fault. It was on the people who wrote the note and added to it, not her.

"That, that doesn't make it okay, though. It was cruel." Katsuki and his 'friends' walked out of the classroom, Katsuki shooting him and the girl a disgusted glare. Izuku began shaking, the blond's mere presence shooting fear down his spine.

The girl beside Izuku muttered a quick apology and speed-walked in the opposite direction, leaving Izuku to the wolves. Not that he could blame her, Katsuki was terrifying.

"Hey, Izu-kun~! What's takin' you so long?" Himiko jumped up to stand beside Izuku, her arm looping through his. She was grinning at Izuku but sending a challenging glare towards Katsuki and his lackeys. Izuku could see the slightest glint of silver peeking out of her cardigan's sleeve.

"We're getting some ice cream, remember? We don't want Dabi getting impatient," Tenko murmured, taking hold of Izuku's free wrist. He could hear the disturbing but familiar sound of skin being scratched off. He would make an effort to stop Tenko, but if it didn't work before, it never would.

Izuku let the pair pull him away from Katsuki, a shaky sigh leaving him. His shoulders slumped and he smiled, jogging so that he wasn't being dragged behind.

"Since when were we getting ice cream?"

"Since little bitch boy over there decided to be a little bitch boy!" Himiko exclaimed, prompting a sharp snort to burst from Izuku. He sniffled, murmuring a thank you.

"We told you that we wouldn't let anyone hurt you on our watch, Zuzu. We meant that."

-o0o-

"Hey Mom, can you help me over here?" Inko stood from the couch, scurrying over to Izuku's room. The boy was curled up in his chair, one of his notebooks flipped open to a page that Inko couldn't see.

"What do you need help with?" Inko asked, moving over to stand behind Izuku. Now that she could see better, she could see that the page held notes on Tenko's quirk with measurements of his hands. There were sketched out designs of various gloves, some scribbled out.

"I'm, uh, I'm wanting to make Tenko some gloves other than his artist gloves. I know that they're pretty uncomfortable. But I can't really come up with a good design, you're better at that. So, can you help?" Izuku muttered, Inko only able to hear him through being the one to raise him. She smiled, sitting down on his bed.

"Alright, let's get started then. So what do you have in mind?"

-o0o-

Standing outside of the Midoriya family's apartment, Tenko shifted his balance, waiting for Izuku or Inko to answer the door. It wasn't particularly unusual to be invited, but typically it was with Dabi and Himiko. Sometimes he went alone but having heard Izuku say that he had a surprise put him on edge. Knowing Izuku, he built something lethal and wanted him to try it out.

The door swung open to one of the biggest grins on Izuku's face he'd ever seen, Tenko not even able to get a word out before Izuku drug him inside by the wrist. He was talking at a mile a minute, somehow not needing to catch his breath.

Izuku spun around and shoved Tenko onto the cream-colored couch, telling him to stay as he grabbed the surprise from his room. Inko came shuffling out of the kitchen in blue pajamas, sitting down beside Tenko.

"Izuku's really excited, y'know?" Tenko snorted, leaning down to rest his forearms on his knees.

"Understatement of the century. I couldn't even understand him." Inko chuckled, placing down her cup of coffee. Looking around, Tenko saw the pieces of cloth strewn around, along with cut spools of string. Inko's probably in the middle of making something, then.

"Okay, I'm back!" Izuku barrelled into the room, almost tripping over air. "Here!" He shoved a black box towards Tenko, almost vibrating in his excitement. Tenko peered suspiciously at it, lifting the box above eye-level to examine the underside.

"It ain't gonna explode, is it?" Tenko asked, lifting an eyebrow. Izuku plopped down onto the couch, opposite of his mother. He squished his cheek into Tenko's shoulder, flicking him on the forehead.

"Nope. Now open it!" Izuku demanded, almost crushing Tenko's ribs with how hard he hugged him. He let out a wheezing breath, trying to pry off Izuku's arms to no avail.

"Holy hell, fine, I will, just lemme breathe," Tenko wheezed, pulling in a deep gulp of sweet, sweet air. Inko and Izuku laughed, much to his chagrin.

Tenko opened the box slowly, pulling out the pair of gloves inside. They were dark red on the top with thick black stitching running down the sides. The palm side had black mesh for grip spanning from the palm all the way to the fingers and black leather on the knuckles, presumably to keep him from getting all too damaged if he punched something.

"Try 'em on, c'mon!" Izuku was biting his lip as Tenko peeled off his artist gloves. He stilled as he was about to put on the pair Izuku gave him, furrowing his brow.

"Wait, won't I destroy them?" Tenko asked, glancing between Izuku and the gloves. The boy shook his head pointing towards them.

"Nope," he said, popping the p. "They're made of two different materials on the inside to keep your quirk from activating. I thought this out, I wouldn't overlook something as basic as that!"

Tenko pulled on the gloves, at last, the pair fitting perfectly over his hands. Was this why Izuku needed measurements of his hands? Probably.

"They're, uh, they're cool. I guess." Tenko felt a smile tug at his lips, his heart swelling with gratitude.

"Well, they better be! They were made by me and Mom, after all."

-o0o-

**I'm not good at insults, can you tell? Anyway, remember to review and ask questions and all that jazz.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for taking so long to upload! I was writing chapter nine when I realized, hey, the kids need a bit of fun but written out. So, enjoy teenagers being teenagers!**

**I'm going to go through and edit the chapters to make them better quality and more detailed. That and experiment a little with my writing style. It'll make it a lot easier to tell whose POV I'm writing from if the nicknames are used in writing. I really hope that this doesn't send out a ton of notifications, but if so, sorry. Give me feedback on it too! If you don't like how I use the names, please tell me, I'm always wanting to improve.**

**So I'm gonna leave a kinda link to the discord server because ff is dumb and won't let me put in a proper link, copy and paste it into really whatever, delete spaces and change -dot- into a period, and click on it and bada-bing bada-boom you got my server. I'm lonely. discord -dot- gg /XK2gbsp**

-o0o-

Shimmying through the open window, Izuku fell into a traditional Japanese-style room. He had to stretch his chin to keep his tuxedo shirt from falling over his face, having to catch himself in a handstand.

'_This… is not Dabi-chan's room.'_

Judging by the startled boy on the futon sporting red and white hair, this is _definitely_ not Dabi-chan's room. It's probably Shouto's if he remembered his name correctly from how often Dabi-chan talks about him.

"Neat hair." Izuku sprung up onto his feet before sinking fluidly to the floor in a crisscross-applesauce position. The boy was still staring at him, slowly shutting his book closed. His eyes were two different colors too, neat.

"Uh… are you here to rob me or something? Feel free, Father's not home right now," The boy stated, prompting a bark of laughter.

"I mean, maybe later? Right now, nah." Izuku stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Anyways, I'm Midoriya Izuku, at your service!" Shouto nodded back to him but didn't shake his hand.

"'M Shouto… Todoroki Shouto." Izuku grinned, retracting his hand just as Koko landed onto the floor in a three-point crouch. He stood up and smoothed out his red shirt before looking around the room.

"...This isn't Dabi-kun's room." The statement heralded the arrival of Himi-chan, who jumped into the window and landed on the balls of her feet.

"No shit, Sherlock," Himi-chan quipped, tucking her hands into the pockets of her sleeveless camouflage hoodie. "Anyway, who's this cutie?" Shouto narrowed his eyes, glancing warily between the trio.

"What do you want with my brother?" His tone developed a sharp edge to it, his right side developing a sheen of frost.

"Woah woah woah, we don't wanna fight!" Izuku waved his hands back and forth, "We're your brother's friends. We just came in through the wrong window." He chuckled awkwardly at the end, hoping that the boy wouldn't attack. He doesn't want to deal with ice or fire right now.

"And why, exactly, would I believe you?" Shouto ground out, glaring at them icily. Quite literally, as an icicle materialized in his hand and the room temperature dropped. Himi-chan held up her phone, seemingly unphased by it all despite having the smallest amount of cover against the cold.

"Here, we'll call him! Simple enough, right?" She grinned, crouching down on the tatami and leaning close to Shouto. The heterochromatic slowly nodded, eyeing her phone warily.

Ringing filled the room, the occupants waiting not-so-patiently for Dabi-chan to pick up. The speaker crackled after five rings and the man of the hour finally picked up.

"Where the hell are you guys? You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago." Himi-chan rolled her eyes as Koko scoffed roughly.

"You gave us the wrong window, asswipe. We're in your little brother's room, and he looks like he's planning on stabbing us with an icicle. I don't feel like maiming a child," Koko grumbled, crossing his arms as though Dabi-chan is there to witness his frustration. Izuku giggled from the floor, occupying himself with his capture weapon.

"God damnit- Just, don't kill him? And Sho, don't stab them. I'll be there in a second." He hung up and Himi-chan pocketed the phone. Shouto threw the icicle out of the open window, opening back up his book.

"You're… seriously just gonna continue reading?" Koko asked, cocking his head to the side. Shouto simply shrugged, not bothering to grace them with an answer.

The door opened, revealing an annoyed Dabi-chan. He glared at them expectantly, leaning against the doorframe.

Being the fashion king he is, he wore a tattered leather jacket with a plain white shirt underneath, ripped jeans, and a simple black choker. Honestly, compared to everyone else, sans maybe Himi-chan, he was the best dressed.

"What," Koko snapped, somehow scowling in a friendly manner.

"Oh, well, I'm just waiting for an apology." Izuku and Himi-chan snorted at the same time, the younger of the pair stilling his fidgeting.

"Apology?" Izuku muttered, "Maybe you should apologize, you're the one who gave us the wrong window, you know." Dabi-chan rolled his eyes but said nothing else.

After sitting in content silence for a few moments, Shouto piped up. "As much as I appreciate socialization, could you all get out of my room?"

-o0o-

Loitering under the awning of a bakery, the quartet of troublemakers looked out at the bustling street in front of them.

They were in the center of Musutafu, where all of the brand name shops and too-expensive restaurants were. The skyscrapers, well, scraped the sky with how tall they were. No matter where you looked, there was an advertisement displayed on one of the large screens on buildings. Some heroes were off to the side, giving out autographs and taking pictures with fans.

"So… what are we gonna do," Himi-chan mused, tilting her head up to where the clear sky met the buildings. Koko shrugged beside her, kicking his foot up against the brick wall he leaned on.

"Uh, shop? Look around?" Izuku leaned back onto the balls of his feet before dropping back to a normal position. Himi-chan looked at him with a deadpan stare, shifting her weight from side to side.

"Well _duh_, I meant where silly!" She grinned sharply and flicked Izuku on the nose, eliciting a squeak of surprise. Someone's stomach growled, and all heads turned to Dabi-chan. He glanced away, the few spots where his scars didn't cover his cheeks reddening.

"I guess we're getting food then."

-o0o-

Stomachs now full, the quartet hit the streets once more. They had stopped at a Mexican restaurant, which was one of its kind when you're in the heart of almost any city, let alone Musutafu. Spotting a manga and doujinshi store across the street, Himi-chan squealed at a decibel that felt it would burst Izuku's eardrums.

"Guys! Guys, guys, guys, look! It's a manga store," She shrieked, gaining some passerby's attention. Koko perked up, looking at where her finger was pointing. His eyes almost sparkled as he pocketed his phone, though he tried to hide it under a look of indifference.

"Well, wanna go?" After a round of affirmations and a shrug, off they went to the store. Himi-chan was almost run over on her way across the street, but hey, that doesn't matter.

Not really having anything better to do, Izuku and Dabi-chan loitered near the entrance to the store while Himi-chan and Koko shopped around with childlike glee. There were figurines all over the place in stands and on shelves with extreme price tags. Hell, Izuku had to do a doubletake when he saw two figurines of what looked to be maids with blue and pink hair with a price tag of 25,300 yen, _each_.

Himi-chan and Koko bounded up to the pair, well, it was less of they both did and more as Himi-chan bounded and Koko walked at a normal pace. Regardless, their arms were full of boxed figurines and manga.

"Dabi-chan/Dabi-kun," They began almost sheepishly. "Can you kinda sorta maybe buy these for us?"

That was the moment Izuku saw Dabi-chan's spirit leave his body.

"No."

Himi-chan and Koko gained the saddest pair of puppy eyes Izuku had ever seen.

"Please," They begged Dabi-chan. _Begged_. Normal behavior from Himi-chan, but Koko? No way.

That seemed to be the breaking point for Dabi-chan as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"God fucking damnit. Fine," He grumbled, pulling out his wallet and walking to the counter. Koko and Himi-chan cheered, the latter of the two jumping up and down.

The cashier chuckled as she rang up the total, Himi-chan and Koko smirking at Dabi-chan when they read it. Izuku had to stifle a snort when he saw Dabi-chan's piercing glare at the two.

"Conniving little shits," Dabi-chan hissed while the cashier bagged their items. "That total was nearly 100,000 yen!" Koko made a waving motion while shrugging.

"Eh, it's Endeavor's. He's so rich he probably won't even notice." Regardless, Dabi-chan still crossed his arms and glared at the two when they accepted their bags. As much as Izuku wants to laugh at him like the other two, he still felt kind of bad for mooching off him. Even if he wasn't the one doing it.

A tall girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail walked up to them, her eyes almost shining in excitement.

"Is that a Hinata figurine," She asked Himi-chan, pointing at one of the boxes she had. The sides and front displayed a boy in a sports uniform with short and curly orange hair, seemingly jumping up to smack a volleyball attached to his hand. Himi-chan nodded and grinned, rocking from side to side.

"Yep!" She lifted the box to eye-level, holding it beside her face. "Isn't he just adorable?"

At that point, Izuku had zoned out completely and waited for them to finish their conversation.

Walking around after the girl and Himi-chan talked for almost half an hour, she dragged them into a cosmetics shop. It had a couple of other things in there too, but it was mainly makeup, hair products, the like.

While Dabi-chan and Koko were free to roam around the shop, Himi-chan refused to let Izuku go and led him over to one of the cosmetics aisles. She was prattling off information about seemingly random cosmetics like eyeliner and mascara as they stood in front of one of the aisles.

"Y'know, I think you'd look great in some natural shade of lipstick, but," Himi-chan turned around, her brows scrunched as she looked him up and down. "Your lips are so chapped it just wouldn't look quite right. Maybe a matte black…"

Izuku felt at his lips and frowned when his nail caught on an upturned piece of skin.

"Are they really that bad?" Himi-chan nodded, crossing her arms.

"Yep! Get some chapstick, it'll do ya wonders." She bumped her shoulder into his as she grabbed one of those egg-shaped chapsticks. Or would they be chap eggs? A question for another day.

"I, uh, how do I word this… I don't think it'll do me much good. I bite my lip so often the chapstick will come right off," Izuku muttered, subconsciously biting his lip despite him talking about it. Himi-chan waved her hand, shrugging.

"Eh, it's worth a shot anyway. Well, we could put you in some eyeliner tonight! C'mon!"

"Wait, what-"

-o0o-

The quartet piled into Koko's home, Dabi-chan's arms laden with shopping bags. Unfortunately for him, he fell victim to the combined powers of Izuku and Himi-chan's begging and puppy eyes.

Himi-chan plopped down onto the couch and motioned for her comrades to sit down.

"All right, come hither, children! We need a game plan for tonight."

Ah yes, game plans. A tradition that started around the time Koko and Dabi-chan became teenagers, so two years ago. Due to varying interests and wants for each night, they would plan at the beginning of the night and then follow through.

None of what they did was scheduled, it was something they would do for that night. They would each come up with one thing to do unless someone didn't have anything in mind. Typically, if no one had anything in mind they would pick a movie to watch.

"So I, being amazingly smart, decided," Himi-chan paused, leaning her elbows onto her knees with her hands tucked under her chin. "I need to do your makeup!" She pumped her fist into the air while Koko and Dabi-chan grimaced, exchanging a glance.

Personally, Izuku didn't mind the idea. It wasn't the best idea, and he's never done his makeup before so it would likely turn out shitty, but it sounded like fun. He'd seen it in a couple of movies and it wasn't that bad from what it looked like.

"Ew. No. Nuh-uh," Dabi-chan griped, shaking his head and crossing his arms to form an x in front of him.

"I second that," Koko added, but didn't give as extreme of a reaction as Dabi-chan. He didn't react at all outside of a sour look.

Himi-chan pouted, bending almost in half so that her chest was resting on her knees. "You guys are no fun." she twisted slightly to look at Izuku. "What about you, Izu-chan? You didn't mind it while we were shopping."

"It sounds like fun. C'mon, no harm, it's not like it's permanent." Dabi-chan and Koko shot Izuku a betrayed look, to which he simply shrugged.

Dabi-chan groaned loudly and tilted his head back before snapping it back to a normal position.

"Fine. But lemme add what I wanna do." He paused while everyone around him nodded. "We're dying my hair. One, cause as much as I hate to admit it, I'd probably fuck it up. And two, because I don't want to be sitting upstairs in the bathroom for an hour alone."

"You have hair dye," Koko inquired, resting his head on his knees.

"Yeah. Bought it at that makeup place."

After they all agreed, it was either Koko or Izuku's turn to add an activity.

"Dunno," was their only answer. Himi-chan made a sound like a wounded animal, pouting to the pair.

"C'mon, that's what you two said last time! _And_ the time before that! This is why y'all never get to be the game plan masters," She whined, resting her cheek on her balled-up fist. Izuku shrugged, leaning back on his hands. Not his fault he had no ideas. Well, kinda, but not really.

"We just don't have any ideas. 'Sides, it's not like there's nothing to do." Tenko unfolded his legs and shuffled around a little. "We have that makeup-whatever thing you wanna do, and Dabi-kun wants his hair dyed."

Toga breathed out a noisy sigh and crossed her arms, glaring at Izuku and Tenko.

"Fine. If you two wanna be annoying, then be annoying."

-o0o-

"Oi, that hurts!"

"Calm down! We gotta get the dye in properly or some red will still show."

"Couldn't you do it, I dunno, more calmly?!"

Listening to Himi-chan and Dabi-chan bicker, Izuku sighed. He and Koko were sitting on the lip of the bathtub while Dabi-chan was getting manhandled.

"I think the dye is in, Himi-chan," Izuku chuckled, resting his cheek on his fist. She glared at him and must have dug her fingers into Dabi-chan's scalp, based off the strangled hiss he let out.

"Say one more word and I'm eating your arteries. That goes for all three of you," Himi-chan threatened, pointing her gloved finger to Izuku, Koko, and then Dabi-chan.

Himi-chan was brutal when she wanted to be, that was for sure.

-o0o-

"Alright! Now let it sit for an hour, then take a shower. Try not to touch it until then," Himi-chan chirped, taking off her latex gloves. Dabi-chan looked ridiculous with his hair looking insanely greasy and up in a hairnet, which Izuku wasn't afraid to point out.

"You can shut it, freckles. Your hair ain't much better." Izuku's hand flew to his chest and he gasped mockingly.

"Oh, I'm so wounded! I can't believe you would _ever_ say that to me." Koko snorted from beside Izuku, covering his mouth with his hand. Izuku smirked, dropping his hand back to his side. Dabi-chan grumbled off to the side, crossing his arms.

"Anyways, makeup time," Himi-chan exclaimed, throwing up her arms and jumping. Koko raised his hand slightly and butt into her excitement.

"Maybe we should wait?" Himi-chan glared at him, almost daring him to try and cancel. "No, no, not like _that_, it's just that Dabi-kun will need to shower in, what, an hour? So wouldn't it be best if we waited 'til after? It's only five pm right now anyways."

Himi-chan tapped her bottom lip in thought, swaying from side to side.

"Hm, I guess. But what would we do while waiting?"

"Uh, Mario Kart? Duh. It's a classic," Dabi-chan piped in, having moved to sit on the bathroom counter. Himi-chan nodded, stilling her swaying.

"Mario Kart it is!"

-o0o-

After getting his ass beat in Mario Kart and waiting for Dabi-chan to shower, it was finally time for the makeup thing Himi-chan wanted to do. She had a lot of it laid out in front of her in neatly organized piles. She even tore pieces of paper and labeled each one.

"Alrighty, boys, who's ready to get their makeup done?" Himi-chan beamed, almost blinding Izuku with how bright she is.

"I'm not, but I don't seem to get much of a choice," Dabi-chan deadpanned, staring at a lock of his newly dyed hair. He seemed to like it.

"Nope! Now, Dabi-chan, you're first," Himi-chan exclaimed, picking up a tube of… something. It was translucent with something in English written on it, but Izuku didn't know what it was.

She shuffled over to Dabi-chan and popped off the cap. She had the mercy to tell Dabi-chan to close his eyes before spraying it on his face. Granted, there isn't much to cover seeing as to how half of his face has scars.

After Himi-chan worked her magic, Dabi-chan's face was… well, still Dabi-chan's face, but with eyeliner and blue eyeshadow. Maybe a little smoother where there isn't scarring.

Next, it was Koko's turn. He complained and grumbled the whole way through, but in the end, he seemed to like it. His scars were covered up and his eyelashes looked longer because of some stick thing Himi-chan had pulled out of a pile. She said that he was in the same boat as Izuku, his lips too chapped to put lipstick on. He only graced her with a middle finger.

"Alright! Izu-chan, your turn now!" Himi-chan patted the space in front of her and Izuku shuffled over. He knew to close his eyes, even before she told him to because she didn't give Koko a warning about that spray stuff last time.

Izuku didn't understand how girls could do this daily. It took a long time, and that was with Himi-chan doing it _for_ him. It was also uncomfortable to have the feeling of something touching your eyelid and not being allowed to move.

In the end, Himi-chan said they looked great. She did a good job, too. It didn't end like how a lot of movies portrayed it, the boys ending up looking like clowns because they trusted a girl to do their makeup, instead they simply looked better.

After watching some movies, playing more Mario Kart, and eating some pizza and popcorn, they ended the night as they always did. In a pile on the too-small bed. Excluding Dabi-chan, who always said it was 'too childish'.

-o0o-

**Can you tell that I know nothing about makeup? Also, please tell me whether or not you like the way I write the names now, I'm always up for constructive criticism.**


	9. AN Important!

Hi! Before you leave, no, I'm not abandoning this.

I've been looking through the past chapters, and after realizing how badly written they are, combined with the fact I never had a plot, I would like to re-write this story. It'll take a while (not too long, because, well, quarantine) but I will probably publish a different story. Well, not different, same premise, but better written and with a consecutive plot.

Thank you! Make sure to look out for when another fic under this name pops up!


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